The 10 Do’s and Don’ts For Shampooing Men's Hair

There’s no more essential hair care product than the ‘poo. That’s shampoo, gentleman! If you’re going to want Bueno Hair, you’re going to need to keep a few things in mind to make sure your maximizing your clean without risking damage to your hair. Hair is brittle and needs to be caressed, so read up on our key shampoo hair tips below.

1. How Often Should I Wash

A general guideline here is at least every other day. Waiting longer than that can lead to some issues. Our personal rule of thumb is never more than once a day unless absolutely necessary. Excessive washing leads to dry, fragile hair as your stripping your hair of essential moisture. Not washing enough leads to greasy, oily dirty hair. Around once a day is the sweet spot. If you’re noticing your hair is feeling dried out, look for a moisturizing shampoo like HYDRATE that helps to hydrate your hair as well as clean, and is still great for daily use.

2. Don’t Forget Conditioner

It takes two to tango for proper hair care. Repeat. Do not forget to use conditioner! If anything, shampoo less, and conditioner more. Your bad boy strands up top will be more than appreciative. Conditioner is essential in locking in the nutrients that strengthen our hair. This prevents breakage, split ends, and dull hair. Conditioners are even more critical for those with dry and/or color treated hair.

3. Be Gentle With The Scalp

You want to really get in there and scrub, right? Make sure everything is good and clean? Put a little elbow grease into it? Pump the brakes, gentleman. You want to be gentle with your scalp, and most of all don’t scratch. Being rough with your scalp can lead to flaking, i.e. dandruff, and can even loosen hair follicles resulting in hair loss. Instead of using your hands you might want to grab a scalp massager brush to apply your shampoo and lightly exfoliate your hair.

4. Way Too Many Choices

Ever walk down the shampoo aisle at the grocery store and notice there’s a ton of different shampoos? It’s pretty intimidating, we must admit, and we don’t get intimidated easily! There’s literally hundreds of different types of shampoos from daily to deep-cleansing to clarifying to dandruff to hydrating to gentle to volumizing to color-safe to tea tree oil…we could keep going on and on like the energizer bunny. Make sure to find the one that suits your hair’s needs.

5. Saving Time With 2 in 1

In a perfect world this would be an amazing time saver and a great option. Just one wash to clean and condition. Sadly, we don’t recommend doing the 2 in 1 unless you’re just super tight on time or maybe at the gym. The problem is that while the shampoo helps open pores to get rid of dirt and oil the conditioner is trying to lock in the nutrients lost from the shampoo. So, it’s almost impossible to effectively do both at the same time, with probably the conditioner losing the battle a bit more than the shampoo. So, don’t fall into the trap, leave the 2 in 1 on the shelf and treat each step individually.

6. Stick It To The Brand

We’ve all got favorite products from different brands… we get it and don’t take it personally. There’s nothing wrong for example using brand X face wash with brand Y body wash. But, for many pairs especially for the hair it’s great to stick with the same brand as the shampoo and conditioner work in unison. Is it the end of the world if don’t do this, no of course not, but it’s generally a good practice.

7. Dandruff Has An Enemy

And, its name is CONTROL Dandruff & Anti-itch Shampoo. Look, we don’t have to tell you that having dandruff is embarrassing, everyone knows that. What we can tell you is that if your scalp is snowflaking consistently you should do something about it asap. In the meantime, a few tips include wearing lighter colors so the flakes aren’t as obvious, use a conditioner regularly, grab a hydrating shampoo in addition to a dandruff treatment, pay extra attention in the winter when the air is drier, and be very patient before rinsing.

8. Hot Is Not Hot

A hot shower feels awesome, but the problem is hot showers dry out your skin and hair. When it comes time to shampoo and condition bring that temperature down. Too warm of water dries out your skin and hair leading to dandruff, scalp irritation, and broken hair follicles. Not to mention warm water makes your hair frizzy and difficult to style. A good indicator here is steam. If you see steam, the water is most likely too hot. So remember to chill when it comes time for hair care, and crank that temperature down.

9. Don’t Be Wasteful

One of the most typical mistakes men make is using way to much product. Higher quality shampoos tend to be way more concentrated so a little goes a looong way. Don’t waste your hard earned dough by squeezing out too much, you only typically need a nickel to quarter-size amount.

10. Be Patient

We can’t stress this one enough which is why we are saving the best for last. You gotta be patient. You can not just apply shampoo or conditioner to your hair and then rinse it 10 seconds later. You’ve got to let it sit on that ‘do for a good solid minute or so so the ingredients can dig deep into those strands and scalp and work their magic. If you’re not sure what to do in the meantime, wash your face or body while you wait for the shampoo to kick-in.

So there you go. Ten men’s haircare and shampoo tips to keep your hair healthy and clean. If you’re still thirsty for more info take a read here.

Pete & Pedro is an Aaron Marino - Alpha M. company. Alpha M is one of the premier men's lifestyle, fitness, and grooming influencers and has been on Shark Tank...twice. Pete & Pedro is a premium men's grooming and lifestyle line dedicated to carrying only the best hair care products, styling aids, skin care, body washes, tools, and beard & shaving supplies. If you have any questions regarding our men’s grooming products, please check out our grooming/hair advice section which is loaded with tips and tricks on how to look your best or just email us, we’re happy to help. Till then, Bueno hair!